Uncanny X-Men #6 - Marvel Comics

UNCANNY X-MEN No. 6, January 2025

For those readers able to wade through this twenty-page periodical’s predominantly plodding plot, Issue Six of “Uncanny X-Men” will most likely prove something of a disappointment overall. Indeed, many a bibliophile will probably feel that Gail Simone was somewhat struggling to decide whether the publication’s storyline was going to predominantly follow the exploits of its titular characters, or instead feel like an early instalment of Chris Claremont’s hugely popular comic book series “The New Mutants”.

Unfortunately, the Eisner Award Winner’s inability to wholly commit to either of these narratives means that “The Change In Ourselves” arguably won’t completely satisfy either potential audience, and the end result creates some infuriating cutaways back to the students’ school life just when things are seriously hotting up for the main characters; “I can’t find Jubilee. I was - - I was distracted. There’s red on the floor. Everywhere. I think some of it’s blood.”

Furthermore, the American author appears intent on making Calico rather disagreeable, especially when the spoilt brat can’t have her own way. This unpleasant attitude towards the people who saved the young girl’s life actually results in the adolescent giving a blind Wolverine a concussion, and yet later, simply because the Outlier finally accepts that she is a mutant, the writer suddenly expects the audience to be sympathetic when Becca Simon-Pinette is ambushed by Doctor Ellis' men in the gym.

Perhaps this comic’s greatest crime though is in its failure to show Jubilation Lee battling it out against the likes of the Blob, Siryn and Wild Child inside a local supermarket. The X-Man’s mouth-watering “fateful solo mission” is even promised by the book’s solicitation synopsis. However, having shown the combatants squaring off against one another, absolutely nothing of Jubilee’s actual tussle against the so-called Trustees is seen, thanks to Simone preferring instead to simply pen a scene showing Logan struggling with Post-traumatic stress disorder (P.T.S.D.).

Sadly also grating upon the nerves is Javier Garron’s pencilling, which whilst proficient enough, is debatably a little ‘short of the mark’ from time to time, such as when Calico has her first big temper tantrum and commands her horse Ember to kick Wolverine into next weekend. In addition, the style of the apparently “renowned comic book artist and illustrator” appears to inconsistently leap all over the place, from a rather cartoon-like looking supermarket scene, to a much more seriously sketched tone whenever Rogue is involved.

The regular cover art to "UNCANNY X-MEN" #6 by David Marquez & Matthew Wilson